Every Minute Counts: Morgan McDonald’s Constant Presence
September 10, 2019 | Soccer
by Brian Ogden, Assistant Coordinator/Communications
STARKVILLE – No student-athlete has played more soccer at Mississippi State than Morgan McDonald. The Bulldogs' all-time minutes leader was the first player to start every match that MSU played over her four-year career.
Before last season, she was the only player to do so.
Carly Mauldin joined McDonald's elite company at the close of her career in 2018, but even Mauldin's 72 starts over MSU's 72 games pale in comparison to the 82 caps of McDonald.
As a centerback, she didn't post many numbers on the box score, but when she did they were exceptional.
In her freshman season, McDonald played the every minute in all but four matches. She made 15 defensive saves that year, pulling the ball back from the goal line often enough to help propel the Bulldogs into their first SEC Tournament appearance.
MSU finished the year with a plus-11 goal differential, which still stands as the fourth-best mark in school history. Without McDonald on the back line, that would have fallen to minus-4 and given State its fourth consecutive negative season.
McDonald started the SEC Tournament match against Ole Miss that year and finished her freshman campaign with an MSU single-season record 1,898 minutes in the field.
The Benson, North Carolina, native was on the field for 15 shutouts in her career, including MSU's highest-ranked victory in program history when the Bulldogs downed No. 6 Florida, 1-0, in 2003.
McDonald led MSU in minutes while recording double-digit defensive saves in each of her first three seasons. At the end of her junior campaign, she had played every minute in all but eight matches.
As a senior, McDonald again led the Bulldogs with 1,866 minutes, a mark that is second only to her freshman campaign in State's single-season history. In the Bulldogs' second match of the year, she earned her first and only career point with an assist on Betty Ann Casey's first goal against Northwestern State.
After three years of keeping the ball out of the net, she had finally helped put the ball across the line.
McDonald wrapped up her career the same way it began, playing every minute of the SEC Tournament match against Vanderbilt. She finished as MSU's all-time leader with 7,133 career minutes, and her defenses allowed just 13.6 shots per game.
For more information on the Bulldog soccer program, follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching for "HailStateSOC."
STARKVILLE – No student-athlete has played more soccer at Mississippi State than Morgan McDonald. The Bulldogs' all-time minutes leader was the first player to start every match that MSU played over her four-year career.
Before last season, she was the only player to do so.
Carly Mauldin joined McDonald's elite company at the close of her career in 2018, but even Mauldin's 72 starts over MSU's 72 games pale in comparison to the 82 caps of McDonald.
As a centerback, she didn't post many numbers on the box score, but when she did they were exceptional.
In her freshman season, McDonald played the every minute in all but four matches. She made 15 defensive saves that year, pulling the ball back from the goal line often enough to help propel the Bulldogs into their first SEC Tournament appearance.
MSU finished the year with a plus-11 goal differential, which still stands as the fourth-best mark in school history. Without McDonald on the back line, that would have fallen to minus-4 and given State its fourth consecutive negative season.
McDonald started the SEC Tournament match against Ole Miss that year and finished her freshman campaign with an MSU single-season record 1,898 minutes in the field.
The Benson, North Carolina, native was on the field for 15 shutouts in her career, including MSU's highest-ranked victory in program history when the Bulldogs downed No. 6 Florida, 1-0, in 2003.
McDonald led MSU in minutes while recording double-digit defensive saves in each of her first three seasons. At the end of her junior campaign, she had played every minute in all but eight matches.
As a senior, McDonald again led the Bulldogs with 1,866 minutes, a mark that is second only to her freshman campaign in State's single-season history. In the Bulldogs' second match of the year, she earned her first and only career point with an assist on Betty Ann Casey's first goal against Northwestern State.
After three years of keeping the ball out of the net, she had finally helped put the ball across the line.
McDonald wrapped up her career the same way it began, playing every minute of the SEC Tournament match against Vanderbilt. She finished as MSU's all-time leader with 7,133 career minutes, and her defenses allowed just 13.6 shots per game.
For more information on the Bulldog soccer program, follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching for "HailStateSOC."
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